Creative Reignites Neeon

After yesterday’s rather awful effort from Apacer, older hand Creative is ready to pick up the mantle of nano challenger.

The needlessly double e-ed Neeon 2 is the follow up to the needlessly double e-ed Neeon released midway through last year. Like its predecessor the Neeon 2 has the same curious ‘Stik-On’ skins obsession but updates in almost all areas to produce a rather tempting little device.

Most strikingly, numero deux bins the rather squitty and dated monochrome LCD of the Neeon for a full colour 1.5 incher. The resolution is a little low at just 128 x 128 pixels but – unlike its Applian nemesis – it manages to make up for this by also playing back videos (taken from a software converter). Photo support also shows its increasingly expected head.

There are no slip ups on the basics either with up to 20 hours of continuous audio playback or eight hours running videos while the 81 x 42 x 12.5mm dimensions and 50g weight are not going to bulge even the tightest of Spode’s miniskirts. An FM radio, voice recorder and Line-in recording complete a highly competent feature set

Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities that will sell for $125, $170 and $190 dollars respectively, the Neeon 2 hits Asia later this month. We Brits can expect it to hit our shores soon after that and if you’ve a skins fetish – and let’s face it, who doesn’t? - this could be the player to itch that scratch.